Elementary School | Grades 3–5 FROM JUNETEENTH TO RECONSTRUCTION: THE PROMISE OF EQUALITY

ESSENTIAL QUESTION How did new opportunities inspire Black people to turn hope into achievement during Reconstruction?

OBJECTIVES Students will: → Explore the historical importance of Juneteenth and ways in which it is observed today. → Discuss the meaning of Reconstruction and how it relates to the history of enslavement. → Produce a work product that reflects their learning about one aspect of Reconstruction, such as education, the growth of Black communities or the right to vote and run for elected office.

LEARNING STANDARDS See the standards alignment chart to learn how this lesson supports New Jersey State Standards.

TIME NEEDED 60 minutes

MATERIALS → All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First → Booker T. Washington Route Map Day of Freedom by Angela Johnson handout (copies for 1–2 small groups) (one copy of the book or access to → Nicodemus: The First Black online read-aloud: https://www.you- Community West of the Mississippi tube.com/watch?v=rRlExoTfm3g) handout (copies for 1–2 small groups) → Fifty Cents and a Dream: Young → The First Black Members of Congress Booker T. Washington by Jabari Asim handout (copies for 1–2 small groups) (multiple copies of the book or access to online read-aloud: https://www.you- → Drawing paper and implements tube.com/watch?v=HZ7OYUDVWBE) → Different colored sticky notes VOCABULARY 13th Amendment emancipation homestead Union 14th Amendment Emancipation Juneteenth U.S. Congress Proclamation 15th Amendment plantation U.S. Constitution enslaved amendment Reconstruction 4 Procedures 3

Write “Juneteenth” on the board. Have students do a 1 turn-and-talk to discuss what they know about this term, and allow a few volunteers to share their thoughts with the class.

Read aloud the book 2 Day of Freedom, by Angela Johnson, (or show the online NOTE read-aloud at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRlExoT- tells the fm3g). Discuss the following questions as you read: → → How did the local people react to the news of freedom? How did their reactions make you feel? → The author says that the people ate, laughed and told stories “as a free people.” How do you think ordinary after the news of freedom?

→ What do you think the people were thinking as the celebration?

→ What do you think the people did the next day, week or month? How do you think they transformed their lives

→ What individuals or groups of people do you know about in today’s world who have to adapt to big now” for those people?

Tell students that Juneteenth marks the beginning of a 3 period called Reconstruction. Explain that in the years following the end of slavery, Black people took advantage of their new freedoms and rights to get an education, build new communities and job opportunities, vote and

THE RECONSTRUCTION ERA 5 Set up learning stations as described below. (Depending 4 on your class size, you may want to create two stations NOTE for each activity.) Tell students that they will choose one activity to help them learn more about Reconstruction and some of the ways in which Black people improved their lives following the end of slavery. Form groups based upon students’ interests and have them complete the station activities. Circulate and guide students as they work.

STATION WORK

TOPIC MATERIALS INSTRUCTIONS

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6 If time allows, create small groups of students who 3 5 work with each other. Conclude the lesson by gathering the class and discussing some of the questions below.

Discussion Questions

1 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES 2 + 3 + 4 5 + Lesson Extensions + - ↗ Assign students to do additional research on the history of Juneteenth and the way it is celebrated today, including conducting interviews with community members, if appropriate. + Then have them plan a Juneteenth school observance, which might include designing informative posters, delivering a multimedia presentation on the story of Juneteenth, reading or telling stories about the holiday and organizing a picnic or luncheon with red foods (symbolizing resilience).

↗ Have students read picture books about Reconstruction and then create their own picture book featuring the accomplishments and progress of Black people during this era. Recommended books include: The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch by Chris Barton; Ellen’s Broom by Kelly Lyons and Daniel Minter; and Follow Me Down to Nicodemus Town by A. LaFaye.

THE RECONSTRUCTION ERA 7 HANDOUT Booker T. Washington Route Map

NAME:

Read about Washington’s 500-mile journey from his home in West Virginia to Hampton Institute in Virginia. This historically Black university was created in 1868 to provide education to former enslaved people. As you read, think about the challenges Washington faced and the accomplishments he achieved. Sketch or write about at least two challenges and two accomplishments on sticky notes and attach them to the route map.

THE RECONSTRUCTION ERA 8 HANDOUT Nicodemus: The First Black Community West of the Mississippi

NAME:

and places from the reading.

After the Civil War, many Black people wished to leave the places where they had been enslaved and start life anew. At that time, the U.S. government was giving away plots of land called “homesteads” to people who agreed to settle and farm them. Two men—a Black minis- ter named W.H. Smith and a white land developer named W.R. Hill— decided to start a new community in Kansas. The state had declared itself free in 1861 and was far from the plantations of the South. They Now that they had a town, Hill and Smith set out to convince people to move there. They received help from Benjamin “Pap” Singleton, a carpenter from Tennessee. Pap traveled far and wide, handing out start. Pap couldn’t read or write himself, but he was an enthusiastic “Moses of the Colored Exodus” (exit), and those who followed were called “Exodusters.” Before long more than 300 settlers from Kentucky headed to Nicodemus, though many turned back when the land was. One of the set- tlers, Williana Hickman, remem- bered her reaction this way:

“When we got in sight of Nicodemus the men shouted, ‘There is Nicode- mus!’ Being very sick, I hailed this news with gladness. I looked with all the eyes I had. I said, ‘Where is Nico- demus? I don’t see it.’ My husband pointed out various smokes coming out of the ground and said, ‘That is Nicodemus.’ The families lived in dugouts… The scenery was not at all inviting, and I began to cry.”

THE RECONSTRUCTION ERA 9 HANDOUT Nicodemus: The First Black Community West of the Mississippi (continued)

Soon the settlers built houses from sod, the grassy surface of the SOURCES: “Ho For Kansas!” April 14, 1878. Copyprint of handbill. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., approached, they didn’t have enough tools, seed or money. They https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam009. html#obj9. Early Area Homestead—Nicodemus Historic with help from Native Americans. As time went on, the townspeople District, Nicodemus, Graham County, KS. Photocopy of Historic Photograph. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., http://hdl.loc.gov/ shops. By 1880, there were 500 people living in Nicodemus, which loc.pnp/hhh.ks0077/photos.069503p. grew to include an ice cream parlor, hotels, two newspapers and Legends of America. “Nicodemus—A Black Pioneer Town.” https://www.legendsofamerica. even a baseball team. com/ks-nicodemus. National Park Service. “Kansas: Nicodemus Today, Nicodemus is a National Historic Site and only about 20 people National Historic Site.” https://www.nps.gov/ live in the tiny town. Every July the residents hold a homecoming for articles/nicodemus.htm. Washington Street Showing First Stone Church and Williams General Store—Nicodemus Historic faced by those former enslaved people and the bravery it took for District, Nicodemus, Graham County, KS. C. 1885. Photocopy of Historic Photograph. Library of them to build a new life on the frontier. Congress, Washington, D.C., http://hdl.loc.gov/ loc.pnp/hhh.ks0077/photos.069504p.

10 HANDOUT The First Black Members of Congress

NAME:

Read the information below and study the portrait “The First Black Members of Congress.” Choose one person to learn about using the links on this handout. Then create a one-paragraph campaign speech for him. Include one detail about his background, one personal quality and one way he will improve his country.

The United States Constitution sets forth the laws and rights that are most important to our country. An amendment is a change or addition to the Constitution. After the Civil War, three major amendments were passed: → The 13th Amendment, approved in 1865, ended slavery in the United States. → The 14th Amendment, approved in 1868, gave citizenship to all people born in the U.S., including former enslaved people. → The 15th Amendment, approved in 1870, gave Black men the right to vote.

Once Black men were able to vote, they worked to elect members of their own communities to public United States Congress. Their presence in government did not last long, though, due to resistance among many white people and discrimination against Black people in the voting process. Women would not win the right to vote until 1920, and a Black woman would not be elected to Congress until 1969—

Black Americans in Congress (If an article is long or challenging, scan for the facts you need rather than trying to read the entire page.)

BlackPast https://www.blackpast.org

5 Former Slaves Turned Statesmen https://www.history.com/news/5-former-slaves-turned-statesmen

THE RECONSTRUCTION ERA 11 HANDOUT The First Black Members of Congress (continued)

SOURCE: The First Colored Senator and Representatives—in the 41st and 42nd Congress of the United States. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.17564.

THE RECONSTRUCTION ERA 12